Quebec wants delay on legalizing pot

Quebec wants delay on legalizing pot – CAQ leader François Legault introduced a motion in the National Assembly on Wednesday November 15th, asking for the date to legalize marijuana to be changed to July 1st 2019 – a motion that was supported by the Liberals and the PQ.

Although the province’s legislation on the selling, use and distribution of marijuana is to be announced today, Legault said he asked for the delay because ‘the province is not ready’. There are issues and details needing to be addressed, even with the new legislation in place – and the extra year would allow the province to do so.

Sylvain Pagé, the Parti Québécois health critic said ‘the federal timeline is more about politics than pot’, calling the federal government irresponsible and that they are ‘more in an electoral system than in a public health and security system’.

Lucie Charlebois, Quebec’s Public Health Minister said on Tuesday, ‘the provinces have been given little time to answer questions about cannabis’ – including policies concerning public awareness, health costs and the training of police officers who will have to enforce the laws. As well, the question of whether federal or provincial governments will fund legalization measures still has not been settled. There is also the question of tax revenues from sales needing to be addressed.

Updates to come with the announcement of the bill and what apparently will be called the ‘Societé Quebecoise du Cannabis’, who would clarify the legal terms of production, distribution, sales and use of pot and oversee the government stores selling marijuana.